Our big move

Our new place.

Another view of our place with the garage pictured.

Joey going down the hill next to our house on his scooter. The kids LOVE all the space for riding their scooters and bikes.

Tori laying low for a little while on our front lawn after she crashed on her scooter.

William enjoying the little park across the street. That is the basketball court.

Before Jayden was born Eric and I sat down and talked and realized that we were going to have to make a change to our living situation. We just couldn't afford to live in the house we were living in. We had rented that house for 4 yrs and we really liked our landlord, but it was an older house and was not well insulated and the utilites were killing us. It had a swamp cooler (which we all know is pretty much worthless in the summertime in Redding) and a wall heater that heated only the front room while the rest of the house was freezing. So I started looking at apartments. Finally I found one in North Redding in the same complex that my cousin Landry and his wife Cara live in. At Cara's suggestion I called the leasing manager and she said she happened to have a unit that was coming available on June 1st. The guy living there had actually just given her notice that morning so it wasn't even posted yet. It was Friday and I came in and got the application and she said that we could take the weekend to think about it, fill it out and bring it back Monday if we wished and essentially as long as everything went through the apartment was ours. Eric and I talked it over long and hard that weekend. The move would be huge for us. It was going to be a smaller space... only 2 bedrooms... and we weren't sure if that was going to work for us. However, the smaller rent and lower utilites won out in the end. We decided that we are a strong, close-knit family and being as our kids are still fairly young we could make it work. We would have a smaller garage than we had so that would mean going through stuff and downsizing A LOT. I wanted to make a play area in the garage as we knew we were dealing with a smaller place. We also would have a small backyard where the kids could play. I especially like how the backyard was right off the living room and I could see out there, even from the kitchen. That meant that William could go out there and play and I could still get stuff done inside. At the house we were living in the only way to the backyard was out through the garage or the side yard and the only window looking into the backyard was the master bedroom window. I didn't let William go outside much because it was hard for me to just sit out there while he played. I always felt like when he was playing that was when I needed to be doing something around the house (or else that was my "me" time). So often he would have to wait until Joey and Tori came home to take him out there.

Eventually that weekend we decided to go ahead and fill out the paperwork and start preparing for a move. Everything was approved and we were set to move in on June 1st... when Jayden was only 4 1/2 weeks old! We actually ended up getting the keys on the Sunday before during Memorial Day weekend and we got a head start on moving. Eric's sister and mom came up on that Sunday and a co-worker of Eric's came over also. Another co-worker let us use his flatbed trailer. The guys and Kaitlyn took 2 huge trips over to the apartment that day, including our beds and the dressers and couches. From that night on we stayed that night in our new apartment. It was so nice having the help. Eric's mom helped hold Jayden so that I could pack boxes and then the guys would haul them out to the trailer and load it up. We worked both Sunday and Monday. Eric had to go back to work on Tues and I thought I would just go over and pack up the rest of the kitchen so that we could begin to cook in our new place. I figured it was about a half hour job. Boy was I wrong!!! I don't know what we were thinking moving with a newborn. I honestly thought it was going to be so much easier that it was. I thought he was going to sleep a lot more than he did. He cried all the time if he was not held. Sometimes I could get him to sleep in William's old bouncy seat for a couple hours at a time, but mostly he just wanted me to hold him and feed him. It was so hard!! That day it took me almost 3 hrs to pack up my kitchen. I finally put him in the Moby wrap that Jeanie let me borrow and I then proceeded to carry things out to the truck one piece at a time as I couldn't lift any boxes with a baby strapped on the front of me. The whole move ended up being somewhat of a nightmare because after the first few days it was only me and Eric doing all the moving and I was still trying to recover from a c-section so I couldn't do any heavy lifting at all. As it was I overdid it and ended up spending a few days in bed once everything was moved over. I do not recommend moving right after having a baby. Also being the person that I am I wanted everything to be all perfectly organized once we moved in too, so I spent a couple of marathon days trying to unpack boxes and put stuff away. Whatever I didn't get put away I finally had Eric move to the garage after the second day so I didn't have to look at boxes in my house. Of course our garage is stacked to the ceiling on both sides with a small walkway through the middle. I think it is going to be an ongoing process of unpacking for awhile. Right now it is so hot that it's hard to spend a lot of time in the garage going through boxes. Hopefully once it cools down we can get in there and really try to go through stuff and get rid of more things. Our backyard is small but it is one of the bigger yards here in this complex and we have a lot of William's toys out there plus a play structure and so he spends quite a bit of time out there. We have the end apartment so we only have neighbors on one side and a grassy hill on the other side. The kids actually are adjusting pretty well to the new place. Even though they have to share a room (the baby is in our room) they don't seem to mind. There is a basketball court in the little park across the street from us which Joey was absolutely extatic about. He got a new basketball for his birthday and has played a couple of time over there. Once again I think when the weather cools down he will spend a lot more time over there. I think the smaller house has pulled us all together a little bit more as a family. That is not to say that I don't have those times when I want to pull my hair out but I think that is to be expected. Because it is a smaller place with not as much storage it does seem to get cluttered a lot easier and looks messier faster, but we all work on trying to keep that picked up. Sometimes though I just have to let it go, because I realize that a spotless, clutter-free house is not the most important thing but rather spending quality time together as a family. I am hoping to spend a lot more time doing things with my kids.

This is not a permanent place for us, but for now it is our little home. Eventually we will need to get a bigger place as Jayden starts to get more mobile. It is nice right now though to just try and get ahead on some of our bills.

William adjusting to having a younger brother

The day Jayden was born, William kept saying "I am a BIIIIIIGGGGGG Brudder!"

I know that William loves his little brother, but in the beginning it was a little rough. He seemed really happy with him in the hospital and just wanted to hold him. I was told a story when I got out of the hospital about when he met his brother for the first time. Unfortunately I was so out of it from the drugs they had given me for my C-section that I don't remember it happening. I am glad though that it was shared with me. Eric's mom brought the 3 kids up to see me and Jayden after they got out of school the day Jayden was born. William was sitting on the bed looking at Jayden and he said "Mommy he has teeny tiny little nose. He has teeny tiny little ears. He has teeny tiny little chin. Mommy I likes him!" It was SO cute!

After we brought Jayden home things started to change a little bit. The first day home everyone was just so happy to all be together that nothing really happened. The next day however, William was doing everything that he could that got him in trouble from the time that he got up to the time he went to bed. He could see that Jayden was taking up a lot of our attention and he wasn't too happy with it, so he was misbehaving so that he would get some of the attention. I remember something happened and he got in trouble and I told him he was going to have to go to his room for it. As he got up and walked to his room he looked at me with the most hurt eyes and just started crying. Well of course I started crying too because...well... I was 4 days postpartum and emotional anyway... and also because I couldn't figure out why my sweet little child was turning into this little monster.

Grandma took him home with her the next day and he stayed with her for a week. I cried all day that day because even though I knew it was good for him to go with her and get some one on one time (and it would be good for us to just use the time to concentrate on Jayden as the older kids were in school) it was so hard to let him go. He of course had a wonderful time with Grandma and we were told he never even asked about us except for one time. When he came back it was a readjustment period again. Luckily Eric was off work for 2 wks after we came home from the hospital so he could help with all the adjustments going on. One thing that happened was that we had been working with William on potty training and he used the bathroom with almost no accidents the whole week at Grandma's but when he got back home he wanted no part of that. He wanted to wear a diaper and be changed just like Jayden. He was really reacting to being bumped off his pedestal and not being the baby anymore. I worried for those first few weeks how this was all going to go and how long it was going to go on. One day I went in for my 3 week check-up and it was Eric's first day back at work and both of the older 2 kids were in school. I had William and Jayden at the doctor by myself. As we were sitting in the room waiting for the doctor to come in William looks at me and says, "Mommy, I want the doctor to put Jayden back in your tummy." I was quite surprised and asked him, "why was that?" He said, "because I no likes him!" It made me feel kind of sad but at the same time I recognized that he was trying in the best way that a 3 yr old could to express how he was feeling about his life being disrupted by this new little person. I really couldn't blame him. That night he was laying on the bed next to Jayden and he said, "Daddy me likes Jayden. He's my favorite." So, I guess that he was feeling better about him.

As I am writing this Jayden is 3 months old and William is doing A LOT better with Jayden. He is starting to see that his little brother is fun to have around. He always wants to hold him and kiss him - which he does about 10 times a day!

Joey gets Student of the Month again

Joey getting his award on stage.

Joey with Mom and Dad and brand new baby brother.

Joey with his teacher - Ms Krupit

Around the middle of May I got an email from Joey's teacher stating that she had chosen Joey to be the student recognized for that month. At their school they have a word each month and each teacher picks a student in their class that they feel has best represented that word and that student is recognized in an assembly. The word for May was EFFORT. I thought it was an especially nice one for Joey because he really has been through his struggles academically, but he has put so much effort into school. He trys really hard. When he was chosen his smile could have lit up the room. After the assembly they have some refreshments set up in the hallway for those students that were chosen and us parents get to join them and have a little time with our kids. It was really nice. We are so proud of our son!

Visit from Grandpa and Debbie

Grandpa and Debbie came up to visit and meet their newest grandchild when he was a couple of weeks old. This time around I think Grandpa was really excited about having a new grandson. I mean he was happy with William too and has been a great grandpa but seemed even more happy about this one. He even did all the picking out of Jayden's new clothes! It was so cute this time to see William follow his Grandpa around while they were here. Everywhere Grandpa was William wanted to be too. A funny story... about a week after they went home we were driving one day and there was a black Tahoe in front of us and William started yelling, "there's Grandpa. I want to ride with him!" He got really upset when the truck turned off somewhere else and not at our house.

Jayden's First Professional Pictures

The extra hand in the front is William's. He wanted to be in the picture too.

Well I decided this time to get some newborn pictures of Jayden taken professionally. I have never done that before with any of the other kids. It was fun to see all the cute pictures. He was 2 wks and 2 days old when we had them done.

Jayden Paul Engelman

Jayden right after he was born - not happy with the world.

The scale showing his weight.

Me getting to meet our little boy for the first time.

Being checked out in the nursery.

Another shot in the nursery under the warmer.

And...on with his eyes open.

The family in the room after Jayden was born.

Joey holding his baby brother.

Tori holding her baby brother.

William holding his baby brother... with a little help from Dad.

The 4 kids with their shirts that I made them.

A close-up of Jayden's onsie that I made.

Mommy and Jayden

A close-up of his beautiful face.

Mommy and her 2 youngest sons.

On Tues, April 27, 2010 we welcomed the newest addition to our family. His name is Jayden Paul Engelman. He was born at 2:11pm and weighed 7lbs 14oz and was 21 inches long. It was not the birthing experience we had planned on but we were thankful to finally have him with us. It all started on Monday morning. I went into my doctor's office for an routine visit. We went in to discuss a possible induction. William had been almost 10lbs and was a very difficult delivery so I was trying to avoid having such a hard delivery this time. Hoping to keep his weight down I discussed with the doctor about being induced a week early. He was on board with that as long as everything checked out ok at the doctor's visit. I had been 2 cm dialated and between 50-70 percent effaced for 3 wks so he felt like I was a good candidate for induction. At my office visit that morning I had not changed so it was decided I would go in that night instead of straight over. I went home and rested for the day. My mother-in-law was at the house (she had come the day before) so I was thankful for that. She was going to stay with the other 3 kids while we went in. I was told to go ahead and have a light supper before going in, so I enjoyed dinner with the kids. Around 7:45 Eric and I left for the hospital. Suddenly the nerves hit me. I was ready but it is still nerve-wracking to know that very soon we will be having a baby. I was also scared about the induction being as I had never had one before. I had really quizzed the doctor that morning about the risks of induction. I was scared to death of having to have a c-section, something else I had never had before. The thought of someone cutting me open absolutely terrified me. I had never had any surgery of any kind before. Anyway on the way to the hospital I was kind of quiet and just hoping for the best. I was feeling pretty positive. Once at the hospital they were waiting for me and showed me to my room. I was put on Cervidil to soften the cervix and prepare it for the second phase of the induction in the morning. I had the Cervidil in for 12 hours overnight. I was able to sleep a little bit that night. They actually gave me some Ambien to help me sleep because of the excitement and nerves of what was going to happen the next day. At 5 am my IV was started with fluids and antibiotics. At 9am the Pitocin was started. Almost immediately the contractions started. They increased the Pitocin a little bit every half hour. Around 11am I was so uncomfortable I just wanted to get out of bed and move. I got onto the birthing ball and leaned over the bed to help ease the contractions. Just before noon I felt a very strong kick and my water broke while I was still sitting on the ball. There was some meconium staining in the water which meant that the baby was in a bit of distress. Because he was still high up inside, my nurse had me get back into bed. Around 12:30 my doctor was doing his lunch rounds and he came in to check on me. He did an exam and I heard him say, "that doesn't feel like a head. I don't know what that is." I looked at Eric with disbelief. My doctor ordered a sonogram to be done right away and he left the room for awhile. The nurse brought in the sonogram machine and within a couple minutes determined that the baby was breech. His head was WAY up in my ribcage and his bottom was down with his legs across my stomach and sticking out the other side. He was sitting in an L shape. I immediately started crying because I knew what that meant. My nurse left the room and about 15 minutes later came back in with paperwork for me to sign giving my consent for a primary c-section. My worst fear was coming true and it felt so out of control. This was NOT what I had planned on. With no other option I signed the paperwork and they began preparing me for my c-section. The anisthesiologist came in to talk to me - THANK GOODNESS. His name was Dr Copeland and he was SO nice. He was patient and kind and he listened to my fears and did everything he could to ease them. My biggest fear was that I would not get numb because 9 yrs ago my epidural did not work with Tori after about 15 attempts and I told them to shut it off and had her naturally. He assured me that even though I had a hard time last time he was pretty sure he would be able to get me numb. He was only going to make one attempt however and if it didn't work he was just going to put me out with general anesthesia. While he was talking to me I saw my doctor slip into the room and stand up front near the door. He was staring out the window in deep concentration, shaking his head and I knew what he was thinking - "how could this have gone so wrong?" After Dr Copeland left my doctor came over and asked, "so when did he turn?" I told him I had no idea when it happened because we were both so sure he was head down the previous morning. In fact he had been head down for about 3 months. Dr Williams then got the sonogram machine and took a look for himself. We were both kind of in shock that this is how this was turning out. He left the room then and they finished getting me ready for my surgery. I was wheeled down the hall to the OR. After being transfered to the table Dr Copeland explained what he was going to do and true to his word was able to get my spinal in on the first try. It was a very weird feeling having my body numbed like that. After that things went pretty quickly. My doctor and the assistant doctor came in all dressed in their scrubs and masks. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. I remember at some point looking at the machine displaying my vital signs and seeing me blood pressure being something like 180/92. I was never so glad in my life to see my husband than when he walked in the room with his scrubs on. He came and sat by my head holding my hand and calmed me down by just talking to me. They got me opened up quickly but after that the difficulties began. I am told that Jayden did NOT want to come out. When my dr tried reaching in to grab him he turned and layed sideways across my abdomen. He began trying to turn him while the dr assisting him literally laid on my chest trying to push him down. I don't know how long it actually took but I think it was at least 10 minutes after cutting me open to get him out. He ended up having to make another cut on me which created an inverted T cut. At one point he thought he had Jayden's foot and when he pulled it out it was his arm, so he had to push it back up and keep trying. Eventually Jayden Paul was born at 2:11pm and he came out screaming. He didn't stop for a long time. It was very difficult for me to lie there and listen to him screaming across the room and not being able to do anything to help him or reassure him. I was very emotional because this was my brand new son and was not how I had planned this. I found out that he had had the cord wrapped around his chest so tight that there was a big bruise on his back and his cord was in an actual true knot. The doctor said only about 1 in 200 births have that happen. It was explained that was why he had turned at the last minute. He had probably tried to descend into the birth canal and because of the knot cut off his air supply so he turned and went as far up as he could get. It was a survival instinct. I felt like even though I hated having a c-section done, it was a blessing in disguise.

Eventually they wrapped him up and Eric brought him to me to see and kiss before they took him away to the nursery. As planned Eric went with him. It took awhile for my doctor to get me all stitched back up. I was lying there looking at the ceiling waiting with nobody around me. Dr Copeland was behind me monitoring my vital signs. Finally he got up and looked over the curtain. I asked him if everything was going ok. He very calmly said, "he is almost finished. He just needs to put your uterus back in." WHAT??? Ok that was just too much information! I wish now I had the wit about me to have said, "that's ok. I don't really need that anyway." I guess they figured out how to get all my parts back in because I was soon being wheeled into the recovery room. It was there my nurse informed me just how difficult that c-section had been and the inverted T cut they had to do. She explained that I was a higher risk now for uterine rupture if I ever got pregnant again. I assure you I am not planning that. I think 4 children are enough. It was a little while later Eric came in wheeling Jayden in his bassinet. I remember seeing him lying there and being overwhelmed with emotions. I could not believe he was actually here. He was wide awake and staring at me. I felt a little sad that I had not been able to be there while he was being checked out in the nursery and getting his first bath. Eric asked me right away if I wanted to nurse him and I did. So I was able to feed him for the first time within the hour after he was born. After they got one bag of Pitocin in me I was transfered to my room - on the second floor as the maternity ward was being remodeled. My mom and mother-in-law were in the room waiting for me. I was lucky enough to get one of the only single rooms so I didn't have a roomate which meant Eric was going to be able to stay with me and Jayden the whole time. I am so glad tht he did too, because I don't know what I would have done without him. For the first 2 days I was unable to do anything for my self. I wasn't even allowed out of bed until 6pm the next night. Eric had to do everything with Jayden's care while I was in the hospital. I don't think I even changed one diaper until after we got home. He would bring him to me to eat and then put him back to bed. Later on after my spinal wore off I was in a lot of pain. I had to take pain medicine around the clock while in the hospital and even after coming home. I made the comment to Eric that I don't know why anybody would actually opt for a c-section. Give me good strong productive contractions any day! I was very frustrated about how long it took to feel "normal" again. I was used to my previous 2 births and being able to get up and shower and walk around an hour after giving birth. I found out that with a c-section, recovery is a lot slower and more difficult. On Thursday night Eric went and got me a chicken sandwich and a milkshake from Jack in the Box. It was delicious! I had been craving some "real" food. I was able to go home on Friday, April 30th.

Easter 2010

Joey and Tori after Easter Egg Hunt at Jeanie's

All 3 kids after Easter Egg Hunt

William, Camilla, and Lila showing off their baskets after hunting Easter Eggs

William looking for Easter eggs

Tori looking for Easter eggs

William and Lila at the Lavender Hills Easter Egg Hunt

Joey at the Lavender Hills Easter Egg Hunt

For Easter this year we went to Lavender Hills on the Saturday before Easter. They were putting on a huge Easter Egg hunt for all the children of their employees and the kids from our field here. They had fun looking for eggs and they got a lot of them.

The next day on Easter a lot of the family went to Jeanie and Ian's for dinner and another Easter egg hunt. It was pouring rain all day and we thought we were going to have to hide eggs in the house but we finally got a break in the rain after dinner and us parents ran out to hide eggs while the grandparents stayed inside with all of the kids. The cousins all had a lot of fun together.